The Gates
Overview One of the few pieces of technology that have been made by the Collective that Humanity cannot explain, the Gates are the only known method of faster than light travel. The gates provide instantaneous travel from any one gate to any other, with no measurable changes to any item that passes through. These gates range in size from a few meters, to several miles in diameter (The most common being 1.6 kilometers). Anything that can fit in one end will come out the other paired gate. All paired gates are the same internal diameter and are known to be entirely stable through any observed condition. These pairs of gates can be destroyed, with catastrophic consequences if not planned for ahead of time, shown in only two instances. The link to The Shop was cut following the loss of the original Logic Matrix at the start of the Galactic War, and the detonation of a gate around the outer most ring of the Hub Gates. The most useful of the various aspects of the Gates are their ability to be moved physically from one location to any other, while maintaining a stable connection to its paired gate, this has allowed the creation of the Hub system. A black hole orbited by 3 planets, and 3 concentric rings of Gates. These three rings are assorted by size, and also by risk. The smaller a Gate is in internal Diameter, the more dangerous the other end generally is observed to be. This has been confirmed by several automated research drones sent into the Gates too small to be explored by the more conventional manned teams. Notable History The first gate was discovered in the Kuiper belt of the Sol system in standard year 14670, the extreme radiation leaks due to damaged shielding over time triggered automated scientific probes. Being on the smaller end of gate diameters, at 1/2 of a kilometer. The Sol gate leads directly to the Hub, and was one of the original 20 gates already in the system. The self destruction of the Gate in the Hub was presumably a defense against the supernova of the destination star. One of the two stars in the binary system was under close observation for this reason. The cut link and following detonation is the current, and best, confirmation that the sun had finally collapsed. The assembly of the Hub system is, and has been, an ongoing project of humanity. Acting as the heart of the species, it is the most active hub of transport and military organization in known territory with nearly a tenth of the human military permanently stationed in the system. This acts as a very effective deterrent against direct acts of aggression. Observations A Gate that is destroyed, required a huge amount of energy. The two gates that were observed to be destroyed required a supernova and rigged nuclear bombs respectively. However, in the case of both gates, which ranged in size considerably (One being a 1/4 kilometer and the other being 2 meters in diameter), the same size explosion occurred. This behavior has been assumed to be the discharge from whatever universal energy source powers a Gate. Any reading on any spectrum of measurement has been found to be identical, regardless of size of the Gate, further providing evidence to a universal power source and mechanism found across all Gates. Current Hypotheses Modified Krasnikov Tubes The most widely accepted of the mainstream ideas is that the Gates are leftover Krasnikov tubes of a long dead civilization. This is one hypothesis that doesn't technically violate the Law of Causality, however it does not immediately explain their observed ability to defy relativity. Teleporter Gates The gates could also easily be an Ansible type device that instantly, ignoring time dilation, communicates with its paired gate. This would include the deconstruction and immediate reconstruction of anything that passes through the gate. If photons are included in this deconstruction and reconstruction process, this would explain the other side being visible at all times. Framed Wormholes Gates could also be wormholes, hunted down and 'framed' to be able to move them. This explains the constant, identical, and consistent, measurements taken from any gate. The standardized measurements could simply be the ideal amount of power to anchor the natural wormholes to the mobile frames, creating Gates.